The ability to transform agriculture to feed growing populations in the face of a changing climate without hindering the natural resource base, is the key to achieving food security goals and to mitigating the negative effects of climate change. This transformation of agriculture is known as ‘Climate Smart Agriculture’ (CSA).
CSA seeks to maximize the benefits and minimize the negative trade-offs of the multiple objectives that agriculture is called to address: food security, development, and climate change adaptation. Key elements include: increasing productivity and resilience; reducing greenhouse gas emissions; enhancing sequestration; and managing interfaces with other land uses.
In this context, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) organized the Climate Smart Knowledge Day, during the 17th Session of the Conference of Parties to the UN Framework of Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC COP17), in Durban, South Africa, with the precise aim of attracting focused attention to the work being done in these areas by FAO and its partners, including the Global Mechanism (GM).
The Knowledge Day provided a forum for dialogue and for key inputs to be made to the climate change and development debates. Saveis Joze Sadeghian, the GM’s Climate Change Finance Advisor, shared her views on the implementation priorities and possible innovations for channelling finance to CSA, as part of the Panel on Climate Smart Implementation at Country Level.
During her interventions, Ms Sadeghian highlighted some potential priorities and measures for national policies, such as:
- building a country-specific evidence base;
- adopting more integrated and innovative policy design to overcome adoption barriers;
- developing institutional and financing arrangements; and
- formulating implementation strategies.
She also emphasized the importance of packaging and blending the different sources of public, private, bilateral and multilateral finance, to fill the financial gap as regards CSA investments. This would involve:
- identifying financing streams that could be optimally combined to give greater flexibility and meet the required resource levels for activities in the agricultural sector;
- strengthening national financial institutions;
- exploring the possibility of new business models for agricultural adaptation and mitigation;
- conducting cost-benefit analyses of candidate financing delivery mechanisms and related policies that reach farmers.
Although there are some general concerns on the part of stakeholders that CSA will be used to promote isolated interests, in particular climate change mitigation, they believe that this can be overcome through continued, inclusive dialogue and transparent communication on the holistic objective of CSA, advocated strongly in Durban.
For more information:
Ms Saveis Joze Sadeghian, Climate Change Finance Advisor
s.sadeghian (at) ifad.org
